The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-11-26

| in the cabin. This was the schooner,.
| regular armament, for we were continually
| among suspicious people. l let the mer
| take their choice of weapons, and then di
| vided our force and sent half the number
| back to the forecastle, from which the.
| could open the attack at a signal Thea
| | carefully slid back the door of the com
| panlon to get look on deck. The sigh,
| was one no man could ever forget. II
| there was one octopus on the port rail there
| were a dozen, and II there was one feeler
| twisting and squirming around the decks
| there were forty. They were twisted about
every thing and pulling at every thing
! Every coil of rope was off its pin and being
/ dragged and whipped about in the wildes.
| fashion, and from the motion of tbs
| schooner one could not but think the mon
| sters were trying to capsiZe her. did moi
| have more than thirty seconds time 10
| glance around before three or four feelers
| shot at me at once, and / closed the slide
| not second too soon to avoid them.
1t was death in its most horrible form to
put foot on the deck, and 1 sent word to
| the men in the forecastle not to attemnt
any movement. l was in hopes that if We
remained quiet the creatures would tire
| themselves out and go away after awhile
| and we spoke in whispers and moved about
as softly as possible. They had come aboard
OF US about six o'clock in the morning, and
at ten o'clock were still there though for
the last half hour the noise on deck had
been less. This was accounted for by the
TACT that almost every thing movable had
gone overheard There was not at that
time Delaying pin, capstan bar, stick Of
of tirewood, oar, or loose rope left on board.
The scuttle-butt which no sea sweeping
over us could dislodge, had been wrenched
from its fastenings and rolled from stem to
stern dozen times. Blankets which the
men had brought up the previous evening
had been rent and torn in all sorts of
shapes as the horrld arms pulled at them.
The tarpaullns had been torn from the
matches and dragged about, and had not
the hatch covers been securely hooked
they would certainly have been wrenched
off.
Shortly after ten o'clock slid back the
door to secure another look. 1t seemed as
if some of the creatures were gone: at
least there were not so many arms twist
ing about Lifting my head until could
see along the port rail, l discovered the
beaks'of only two octopuses. others were
in the water alongside, however, and had
their feelers over the rail, some clinging
last to shroud or mast, while others were
carefully moving about. A breeze had
come up and | was angry and impatient at
the delay, but | restrained myself to
wait for another half hour By that
time tho creatures had deserted us
entirely. From tho connection in the
water on the rocky reef, | had no douby
That 1t was the don or nesting place of the
creatures, and that they had returned after
venting their anger on US asfar as possible
Such a rif1c-rafio l never saw before or
after on vessels deck We could not put
TO sea In such shape, but had TO threaten
the men with pistol before | could get one
oil them to enter the yawl and pick up the
stuff floating about We worked swiftly
and as silently as possible to make good the
damage, keeping a man on the lookout all
the time, and we were thankful body of
men when the anchor was finally up and
we were clear OF the bay.
AS to the strength of an octopus. will
tell you what four or five of us once SAW at
one OF the Spice islands. There was o yawl
floating astern Of a small trading schooner
anchored of the beach. / was on the
schooner talking with the Captain, and his
crew Of five mon were all on deck, when an
octopus rose on the port side of the yawl
and Hung three OF his tentacles into it. We
saw every thing from the first move. The
arms, sliding about, found nothing to lay
hold or, and then, as if the octopus was in
dignant ut his ill-luck, he capsized the yawI
in a twinkling. The water was not over
twelve feet there, and, getting a hold on
the rocks he pulled the yawl astern until he
broke the painter, which was new inca
rope. The strength displayed in that move
ment was equal to that Of draught horse,
but he was not using more than third of
his power.-N T. Sun.